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Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Thai-Style Catfish - Plah Toht Kamin

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I'm told that plah toht kamin is a native Thai dish. I can't speak to the veracity of that because each time I've had the dish it was made by a French chef who was plying his trade in Southeast Asia. Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and, to a lesser degree, Vietnam seem to be magnets for French chefs. I suspect there are more of them in Southeast Asia than there are in France. The fusion of wonderful native cuisine with French technique and talent makes for some fascinating meals, and what native and French chefs are able to do with fish is really amazing. While most of the food we had in Asia was wonderful, our best meals in China were vegetarian and our best meals in Southeast Asia were fish or shellfish. I stopped by the fish market today to see what was available and found some gorgeous looking catfish fillets at bargain prices. I was determined to sidestep my usual blackened preparation and come up with something that, for us, would be new. I remembered the turmeric fried catfish we had in Thailand and Laos and set out to reproduce it. We had a lovely meal this evening. Fish prepared in this manner is really easy to make and can be on the table in about 30 minutes. The only remotely exotic ingredients are turmeric and fish sauce and they can be found in most large supermarkets. Bob really enjoyed this, so it will make an encore performance at the table in the next few weeks. I served the fillets with a Thai cucumber relish and sticky rice. I hope you'll try this. It is remarkably good. Here's the recipe.

Directions:1) Place garlic, shallots, turmeric, sugar, pepper, salt, fish sauce and 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in the bowl of a small food processor. Process to a fairly smooth paste, using a small amount of water if necessary to bring ingredients together. Combine fish fillets and turmeric paste in medium bowl or baking dish, turning fillets to coat evenly with marinade. Let sit for 15 to 20 minutes at room temperature. The fillets can be marinated for up to 24 hours if covered and refrigerated.2) Place about 1 cup of flour in a pie plate or cake pan. Dredge fillets in flour, shaking off excess. Heat reserved 2 tablespoons oil in a large frying pan set over medium-high heat. When a drop of water sizzles in pan, add fillets and cook, turning once, for 5 to 7 minutes depending on thickness of fillets. Be careful when turning. Transfer to a serving plate and serve with a Thai dipping sauce if desired. Yield: 4 servings.

I love any kind of fish recipe and this sounds wonderful! Great job on the recreation - you are so talented!!

BTW, I have been lurking at that blog you told us about - A Tea Party for My Mother. Don't quite know how to just introduce myself yet - seems sort of awkward. Her experience is so reminiscent of the time of my own mother's last days - she will be happy that she documented these days. Thanks for passing that on. Hugs.

Mary, down here in Georgia, catfish is a staple on many a menu. But I have never seen it prepared with your creativity. This looks absolutely delicious. I can't wait to try and duplicate your incredible dish. Many thanks...

My husband would adore this - always looking for more fish - and we get a lot of fresh lake fish- although right now - you need to dig a hole in the ice to catch them! Love the fusion of French and Asian - scrumptious.

Mary, fish is my favorite meal and catfish is my favorite fish. Being a Southerner, I usually pan-fry it and serve with grits and butter beans. As a treat I will fry it once in while for breakfast with grits, eggs and hot sauce.

I need to step out of the box sometimes and since I LOVE Thai food and since I have all of these ingredients, I know I will be making this dish!

If I have to ever choose my last meal, it will be Thai! Spicy, salty, sweet--lovely! We have Arun's (in Chicago) where, for $85, one can have a scrumptious 12-course Thai meal. We have Five Star Thai (right in the suburbs) where, for around $8, one can get any number of scrumptious dishes, plus a visit with the owners and other frequent customer/friends. I have a whole collection of Thai cookbooks just in case Five Star decides to "retire". So far, I haven't used them but I'm going to give your catfish recipe a try. It looks delicious. Thanks!

Catfish is a family favorite. I've never cooked much Thai food before but this looks like an amazing way to serve catfish. And not too involved either. Sometimes Thai cooking takes a million ingredients and most of them are not readily available.Looks wonderful, Mary!

Oooh Mary I have some serious catching up to do here all starting with this fabulous-looking catfish. I rarely cook fish - it just scares me! This looks so delicious and the list of ingredients seems rather simple! And yum chili-lime sauce! Exquisite!

I will have to make this! Our local thai restaurant has a similar one and I was wondering how they made it. Thanks for commenting on my food blog! I love yours, and I was able to find several others I really liked from your recommended blog list!

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